1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cable management systems and particularly to telephone cable management systems using a wall or frame-mounted panel, and wiring blocks and troughs coupled to the panel. More particularly, it relates to a universal panel using a plurality of panel segments that are combined to form panel modules. The individual panel modules are then combined to form a cabling panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, conventional telephone cable management systems include a metal panel 10 defining a channel 11 attached to a wall. The panel 10 includes a base wall 12, a pair of side walls 14 extending from the base wall 12, and a plurality of tabs 16 extending inwardly from the side walls 14. The tabs 16 include trough tabs 16a and wiring block tabs 16b alternating along the length of the panel 10. A plurality of wiring blocks 20 and troughs 22 are alternately attached to the tabs 16b and 16a, respectively, and a duct assembly 24 is attached to the bottom of the panel 10.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, a wiring bundle 30 is routed in the channel 11 behind the wiring blocks 20 and troughs 22. Patch cords 26 are coupled to the wiring blocks 20 and run through the troughs 22 to wire rings 32, and then routed down to the duct assembly 24 for further routing as necessary.
The conventional cable management system has worked well in the past, but it has several disadvantages. First, the alternating trough tabs 16a and wiring block tabs 16b limit the utility of the panel to a single configuration of alternating troughs and wiring blocks. Second, the panel is only available in two sizes, i.e., a 300 wire pair size and a 900 wire pair size. A third disadvantage arises with the advent of new high bit rate data type cables that have been increasing in diameter. The increased diameter has decreased the available free space in the channel 11 behind the wiring blocks 20 and troughs 22.